Publishers Clearing House Awards Sioux Falls Woman 5 Million

Something we've all dreamed of from time to time finally happened to a Sioux Falls woman on Saturday morning. The Publishers Clearing House people rang her doorbell to let her know she was a winner!

KSFY TV is reporting that Carli Steffes of Sioux Falls received one big giant surprise on Saturday, (March 3), a surprise in the form of a giant check for nearly 5 million dollars from Publishers Clearing House.

If you're like me and thought all those Publishers Clearing House winners weren't even real, I guess we were way wrong huh? They even brought balloons like on the TV commercials.

Word has the two Publishers Clearing House representatives had a tough time tracking down Carli, when they initially knocked on her door she wasn't home. She was at work. They ended up coordinating things with her employer Esurance and surprised her on the job instead. You can imagine what a surprise it was?

It's always nice to hear about a large sum of money going to somebody who could really use it like Carli, according to KSFY TV she has been through quite a lot in life. Carli who will turn 60 years old this year, is also a cancer survivor, and former pastor who serves as a chaplain at the Avera Heart Hospital.

When it comes to winning all that cash, Steffes told the same story that most large jackpot winners seem to tell, she's been entering the Publishers Clearing House for years, but never imagined she’d actually win. Her message was simple, to remind people, “Don’t ever give up, this does happen, it actually happens."

Carli plans to put that money to good use, KSFY TV reports she plans to use her winnings to pay her medical bills, help her two daughters and five grandkids, along with donating some of the money to her church, First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls.